10 Great Questions To Ask In A Job Interview

In a job interview, the majority of the questions are directed at you. Interviews can seem very one-sided and intimidating at times. However at the end of each interview, most employers will leave some time to ask you if you have any questions for them. Some candidates get taken aback by this question or are too nervous to think of any questions to ask. Employers say most candidates don’t take advantage of the opportunity to ask them questions enough, leaving them to assume that maybe the candidate is not serious about the position or thinking seriously if the job is the right fit for them.

Be prepared with some questions about the position you’re applying for before you go in for an interview. If your questions are answered during the interview, try to at least ask some follow-up questions to the information they provided. Asking questions is a great way to show the research you’ve done on the company—new projects, partnerships or campaigns they’ve launched, and express your seriousness about the position. Through intelligent, inquisitive questions you can end the interview with a bang and leave the interviewers with a positive impression of you even if the entire interview wasn’t perfect.

Remember that the more detailed questions you can ask specifically about the company, the better. Just be sure to phrase them in a professional way, keep it positive and don’t bring up any controversial topics. Check out some of the best questions to ask in an interview below. You can tailor them to the position/ company you’re interviewing for.

1) If hired, how could I best help the company meet its goals?

2) What do you like most about working here and what would you say is the most important aspect of your company culture? What is your ideal communication style with your staff?

3) If I were to start tomorrow what should the top priorities be on my to-do list?

4) What are your expectations for this position and how can someone surpass your expectations?

5) What are the top skill and qualities you feel the right candidate needs to excel in this position?

6) What improvements or changes do you hope the new candidate will bring to this position?

7) What does a typical day or work week look like for the person in this position? Could you tell me any examples of projects I would be working on if I were to get the position?

8) Does the company offer any continued education or professional training opportunities?

9) Is there anything that stands out to you that makes you think I might Not be the right fit for this position?

10) What are the next steps in the selection process? When do you expect to make a decision?

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How To Stand Out During the Job Interview

Making the right impression in your job interview is one of the most important steps in your future career. Many people don’t know this, but job interviews require careful planning and research, otherwise you will significantly reduce the chance of getting the job. In the current economic climate it is very hard to land yourself a job, thus planning your interview before is the key to success

The first (and often the most important) thing to prepare for is your attire. Don’t wait until the last minute to find something to wear – you should prepare for it days in advance and get it properly cleaned and ironed. Remember that you should always dress to fit the context of a job. If you’re applying for a casual gardening company, a suit might not be ideal, but if you’re applying for a position as an accountant or a banker, then a full suit would be the required minimum. Despite what people say, first impressions are everything.

Conducting research about the job and company you’re applying for is imperative. Consider doing a web search and learn as many facts about the company as you can. You can subtlety include these facts during the interview (when appropriate) to show the interviewer that you have done your homework on the company. Don’t overdo it though – you don’t want to sound like you’re repeating their whole website!

Non-verbal messages are often more important than words, so make sure that you greet your interviewer with a firm handshake. Maintaining correct posture and eye contact are also two very important non-verbal messages as they make you appear more confident and presentable. These are two big qualities that hiring managers will be looking for.

You should also be able to recite your resume off by heart. As a general rule, you should not need to consult your resume. The interviewer will already have a copy of your resume, and they will ask you questions about it, so don’t try to make up an answer as there is a big chance that you will get it wrong. Highlight your achievements and the value added skills you can bring to the job and back up your statements with examples.

As preparation is the key to a successful job interview, consider doing a short role-play with a friend or family member. Ask them to question you on your resume and the job to fully prepare you for the interview. The more you are prepared the greater your chances of success. Following the interview, thank the interviewer for his or her time and ask when they expect to make a final decision and don’t feel discouraged to follow up with them if you haven’t heard back within a few days.

Good luck!

© RedStarResume Publications –
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RedStarResume is the number one source for expert Resume Writing and Job Interview Tips

During the last decade, RedStarResume has successfully written hundreds of professional resumes for candidates across the globe. From the student or entry level position to the CEO, our unique, custom-made resumes are written specifically to match the goals and desires of our clients and to help them land jobs.

The Dreaded Job Interview

After you have constructed the perfect resume and applied for the perfect job you will hopefully receive that favourite phone call congratulating you on receiving an interview request. Typically when you apply for a job you can expect your competition to share similar skills, education and experiences as yourself. This is why you need to demonstrate to the interviewer that you not only possess the right skills, and that you are also the right fit for the company. Considering the importance of your job interview, there are a few key factors you need to do to ensure that you give yourself the greatest opportunity of finding success.

Conduct Research

Researching the company that you are interviewing for is a great way to acquire a sense of knowledge about your potential future career.  When you show that you have done a good amount of research, an employer will see the enthusiasm that you have about the particular position as well for the company and this will aid you in developing a good first impression.  When you are performing your research, don’t just use the company website for information. Use your imagination and look at anything from past market shares to any philanthropy or humanitarian involvement that the company is currently engaged.

Practice Makes Perfect

The days before your interview you should research popular-asked interview questions.  This way you can rehearse your answers, which can help you to phrase them in the most beneficial way.  The more practice you put into your interviewing, the greater your answers will flow when it comes time for the main event! If you bring forth a comfortable aura to the interview, your potential employer will see how relaxed and confident you are.

Contact Your References

Prior to going into the interview, it is a good idea to contact the people that you have placed on your reference sheet.  More often than not you will be asked to bring in your resume and a copy of your references and so it is imperative that these people know that they may be receiving a phone call.

Prepare Your Outfit in Advance

Don’t wait until the day of the interview to determine what you are wearing.  Keep in mind that you will want to pre-plan your travelling route in order to arrive at least 15 to 20 minutes early. Arriving late is the greatest mistake you can make! Planning your outfit the day before your interview gives you time to wash, iron, and hang up your clothes so that they are in pristine condition for your interview.

Preparing correctly for the job interview will give you the greatest opportunity of getting the job. If you are hoping to succeed in your interview, you must ensure that you are sufficiently prepared in advance. Do not let yourself down. Leave no stone unturned in your interview preparation.

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What Are The Key Ingredients To Preparing A Resume That Will Get You Interviews?

I decided this week to bake a double chocolate chip cake. It was so delicious and cooked to perfection that I only managed one piece before my friends had collectively finished off the rest of the cake. Before I baked the cake, I prepared the ingredients and even added in a few “extra” items to make my cake as tasty as possible. When it comes to resume writing the exact same process is required:

Key Ingredients:

Strategic Keywords

Using strategic keywords throughout your resume is imperative for a number of reasons. Recent reports suggest 80% of companies use some kind of software or scanning program to search for candidate resumes.  In today’s society it is no longer good enough to target your job toward the role you are applying for – you also need to target your resume toward software programs that are now performing first rounds of candidate selections.  In this technological world where applying for a job can literally take a couple of clicks of a button, hiring managers are seeing hundreds of resumes (sometimes thousands) for one particular job. As much as we would like a hiring manager or recruiter to read through our entire resume, this rarely happens.  As such, using strategic keywords will help your resume rank higher and ensure that it passes the first test of being read by either a recruiter or hiring manager.

Highlighting Achievements

Resume writing and job seeking has changed a lot over the past couple of years. With new online networking sites such as LinkedIn being available and making it easier for a job seeker to network with a potential boss, highlighting your achievements on your resume and cover letter is more important than ever. When a boss or hiring manger decides to employ a new person to their staff, the first thing they want to know is how this person is going to add value to their organisation. Including basic duties and responsibilities is not enough to make you stand out as the perfect person for the job. You need to prove that you are the best person by highlighting your skills and achievements.

Presentation and Format

Your resume is the first impression a hiring manager will make about you. A well presented and structured resume that is written in a clean font will portray your resume in a professional manner and immediately give your resume application a higher ranking. Alternatively, a resume application that has spelling and grammar errors, different sized fonts, long sentences (as opposed to bullet points) and a lack of headings will not portray a positive image to the reader, and you won’t look like the right person for the job. A lack of professionalism may even lead to your resume being deleted without even being read. No matter how good your skills and experience may be, once your resume is deleted, it will never be read again.

In order to prepare the perfect resume follow these three main ingredients. Take time to prepare your resume and ensure that you give yourself every opportunity to succeed!

© RedStarResume Publications – www.redstarresume.com

During the last decade, RedStarResume has successfully written hundreds of professional resumes for candidates across the globe. From the student or entry level position to the CEO, our unique, custom-made resumes are written specifically to match the goals and desires of our clients and to help them land jobs

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Job Interview First Impressions

Are first impressions really that important? The answer is… YES!

When the decision comes to hire a new employee, the candidates that are chosen almost always will share similar educational backgrounds, skills and experience. Because of this, it can be the small things that make the difference between getting the job or not. A lousy handshake or dirty shoes can be all it takes to lose out on getting the job.

Top tips to make sure that your first impression counts!

Dressing appropriately

A person who looks professional portrays the image of being professional. A person who looks sloppy portrays an image of being sloppy. If two people walk into an office and candidate one is perfectly dressed with clean shoes a shirt tucked in and brushed hair, and candidate 2 walks in looking like they just woke up, it goes without saying which candidate will more likely get the job. Before even discussing their skills, the hiring manager’s first impression about professionalism has already been made.

Hygiene

As a hiring manager, I can tell you there is nothing more off putting than interviewing a candidate with bad hygiene. No matter what job you are applying for, bad breath or lack of hygiene is not going to help you to get ahead. There is a fine balance between wearing the right amount of perfume/aftershave or too much. If the interviewer can smell your perfume from across the table you are probably wearing too much!

Addressing the interviewer properly

Showing respect toward the interviewer is paramount. Remember the interviewer is not your best friend who you have known for many years. Using slang or shortening their name (“Wassup Dave”) is not the correct way to make a good first impression.

Listening

A great mistake you can make in the interview is to speak too much and not answer questions. Interviewing is a 2-way process. Not only do you need to directly answer the interview questions, but you need to listen to what the interviewer is saying. Unless it is a direct yes or no answer, always provide examples and evidence to support what you are saying. Make sure you leave the interviewer with no doubts that you are the right person for the job.

Handshake and Smile

When you walk into the interview, a solid handshake and smile will go a long way to building rapport with the interviewer and will also leave a positive memory in their minds after the interview has finished. Typically the person who is interviewing you will often be your boss, and therefore they will want to know that not only do you have the skills required to do the job, but that they are going to want to work with you on a daily basis.

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The journey to finding your dream job

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Starting to Prepare For The Dreaded Job Interview

Rule number 1: Research:

Congratulations! You have been invited for the interview. Now what do you do?

The first step is beginning to research the company. Once you have done this you will be ready to prep for the interview questions, learn how to improve your interviewing skills and begin to think about what you’re going to wear to the interview.

In order to succeed in the interview you need to do your homework on the company. There is no set of rules to how to do your research but preparing yourself as much as possible will greatly enhance your chances of getting hired.

Make sure you use every available resource to help you with your preparation. By doing a basic Google on the company you can easily learn important facts about the company. Publically listed companies are easier to prepare your background research than privately listed companies as public companies are legally required to make certain information available. In the 21st century the Internet has made a lot of the pre interview research more available and easier to find. Don’t forget that you can also use other sources of information like public libraries or bookstores. Many magazines and journals can provide important and up to date information on your company and also provide you with information that your competitors who are also applying for the same job won’t know.

A true story…

A candidate of mine was applying for a job at one of the large investment banks. Out of 150 candidates the hiring manager had selected the top 10 best resumes to perform first round interviews. Every interview was 15-20 minutes long. The final question the hiring manager asked to each of the candidates was “Tell me something about the company.” Nine out of ten of the candidates rattled off information they had read from the company’s “about us page”, but one candidate stood out. After reading about the company’s strategic purchase of a new acquisition, the candidate was able to impress the hiring manager with his (somewhat different) knowledge.

The hiring manager later offered this candidate the role not because he was the smartest candidate, but because he showed his dedication by going the extra step in his interview preparation.

Your research for the job interview preparation should give you a better insight on:

The history of the business

How old the business is

The types of services the business offers

The hierarchy structure

How many offices/locations the business has

Number of employees

Career progression

The business culture

Competitors

Benefits

Check out the Competitors websites as well – they are also a good source of information for your job preparation.

© RedStarResume Publications – www.redstarresume.com

During the last decade, RedStarResume has successfully written hundreds of professional resumes for candidates across the globe. From the student or entry level position to the CEO, our unique, custom-made resumes are written specifically to match the goals and desires of our clients and to help them land jobs.

How To Answer Behavioural Job Interview Questions

Interview questions are typically divided into three main categories: Traditional interview questions, Behavioural Questions (competency-based interview) and Situational questions (hypothetical questions).

Behaviour Job Interview Questions:

“Past behaviour is a better predictor of future behaviour”

It is estimated that 80% of the interview is made up of behavioural questions. In order to understand how to answer behaviour questions we need to first define what a behavioural question is.

This type of interviewing is based on the philosophy that your past actions and behaviours will be a good indicator of your future behaviours. Therefore, how you acted to certain circumstances in your previous job is a reliable indicator of how you will act in your new job. As there are literally thousands of behaviour type questions, you can best prepare for this type of questioning by researching the culture of the company to get an understanding of the behavioural traits that are essential to working at that particular organisation.

Behavioural questions differ to standard interview questions as they focus more on experiences, behaviours, knowledge, skills and abilities. Rather than the standard question of “Do you have leadership skills” a behavioural question is more likely to be “Give me an example of your previous role when you displayed leadership abilities.” As the interviewer has already determined which skills are necessary for the role it is important that you are prepared for these questions.

The best way to begin studying for these questions is to look at the job description! The list of skills that they require are the skills they will more than likely focus on. When the job description mentions they require a person with good teamwork skills or negotiation skills, it is more than likely that this will be turned into a behavioural question to see if you really do possess these skills.

In good news, behavioural questions are not to be feared. When prepared properly, these questions can be easily answered.

How To Answer Behaviour Job Interview Questions:

The best way to answer a behavioural question is to use the STAR format.

Situation: The interviewer wants you to present a recent challenge and situation in which you found yourself.

Task: What did you have to achieve? The interviewer will be looking to see what you were trying to achieve from the situation.

Action: What did you do? The interviewer will be looking for information on what you did, why you did it and what were the alternatives.

Results: What were the outcomes of your actions? What did you achieve through your actions and did you meet your objectives. What did you learn from this experience and have you used this learning since?

The Star Model:

© RedStarResume Publications – www.redstarresume.com

During the last decade, RedStarResume has successfully written hundreds of professional resumes for candidates across the globe. From the student or entry level position to the CEO, our unique, custom-made resumes are written specifically to match the goals and desires of our clients and to help them land jobs.

Questions to ask in the Job Interview

How to nail your job interview

As a job candidate what is the best question to ask in an interview? At some point in the interview (typically at the end) the hiring manager will turn to you and ask “Do you have any questions which you would like to ask me?”

There are two main benefits in asking the right questions. Firstly don’t forget the number one rule from chapter one. The interview is a two way process and you need to ensure that this organization is the right fit for you. If you are uncertain about certain aspects of the role or need greater clarification, than this is the time to ask those questions. Don’t be shy or intimidated. Secondly by asking clever questions will not just help you in deciding if this job is right for you but will impress the interviewer and leave a positive image as someone who comprehensive and professional.

What you need to do: 

1. Prioritize your questions based on the interview situation – Is this the first interview or the second interview?
2. The best questions you can ask are open ended questions
3. Have 3-5 questions prepared (The more the better)
4. Only ask questions that you are interested in knowing the answer!
5. Only ask questions that are relevant to the job, department, management and organization

Sample 15 Job Interview Questions to ask:

• How will my leadership responsibilities and performance be measured?
• Do you provide any sort of professional development or training?
• How do you measure performance and how often is it reviewed?
• Who was in this job before and why did they leave?
• Is this a new position? How long has this position existed?
• Could you explain your organizational structure?
• How many people work in this office/department?
• How much travel is expected?
• What’s the makeup of the team as far as experience?
• With whom will I be working most closely?
• Why do you enjoy working for this company?
• How will my leadership responsibilities and performance be measured?
• Can you describe the company’s management style?
• What would be the goals of the department in the coming year?
• What are the traits and skills of people who are the most successful within the organization?

Types of Job Interview Questions NOT to ask:

• Salary and benefits
• Questions that are clearly stated on the website
• Generic / Obvious questions
• Questions that the interviewer is unable to answer. Do not try to “outsmart the interviewer” Asking questions that appear to be challenging the interviewer or a question that the interviewer is unlikely to know will only create a negative vibe between you and the interviewer. Remember you are trying to build rapport with the interviewer not challenge the interviewer.
• Questions that are irrelevant to the job or organization

Sample 15 Job Interview Questions NOT to ask:

• How many sick days and holiday days do I get?
• Do I still get paid for a sick day?
• If I start next week how long until I will get a pay rise?
• How long is the lunch break?
• What is it that your company does?
• Are the working hours flexible?
• Am I able to have my own office?
• Who are the “coolest” people on my team?
• How many warnings do you get before you are fired?
• Are there many coffee shops close by?
• How financially sound is this company?
• What are your strengths and weaknesses?
• Will I be given an employee handbook?
• What is the company policy on internet use?
• Can I use Facebook?

© RedStarResume Publications – www.redstarresume.com

RedStarResume the number 1 choice for resume and CV writing services. With our 100% satisfaction guarantee, we will be right by your side the entire journey until you have secured your brand new job.

The journey to finding your dream job starts with a brand new professional resume

Is it time for a Job Interview? Are you prepared to answer all the tough Job Interview Questions?

Unless you are born extremely rich and plan on spending the rest of your life lying on your own private island or you have a family business you can move into, chances are at some stage in your life you are going to have sit face to face with a hiring manager in a job interview.

The interview is your time to shine. Don’t be intimidated because you don’t think you have all the skills that are wanted in the job specification. Most businesses will teach you as you go, so lacking a certain skill will not mean you can’t get the job. If you do lack certain skills or experience, you need to work twice as hard in your interview to portray the skills that you have and can bring to the job. It is a myth to think that the most skilled person will get the job. When it comes to hiring the right person, it is about the overall package – skills, personality, confidence and also the passion you show in your interview.

The brand new Ebook from RedStarResume – “Interview Secrets Exposed” will teach you everything you need to know to easily prepare yourself for your next important job interview and most importantly be able to nail the job interview. Rather than going into the interview feeling nervous and unprepared, you can stand out from the competition and force the hiring manager to take notice. This simple, powerful formula guarantees you will be prepared for any question that comes your way.

Learn everything you need to know to prepare yourself for the interview including

• Researching and preparation
• How to answer Ice Breaking Questions
• The most frequently asked interview questions and answers
• Open Ended and Closed Ended Questions
• General “Standard” Interview Questions
• Behavioural questions and examples
• 50 most asked Behavioural Interview Questions
• Situational Questions
• What to wear to the job interview
• Asking the interviewer questions
• Dressing for the Interview
• Top 10 Job Interview Blunders
• How to Answer Illegal Interview Questions

Plus: Bonus material “how to nail the Telephone Interview” and “following up after the Interview”

Job Interviewing does not have to be a scary experience! Research, Prepare and Practice and you are already another step closer to landing your next job.

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